


Friend Request Sent

by evil_brainmate



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Cyberstalking, M/M, Masturbation, Run-On Sentences, Unhealthy Relationships, Unreliable Narrator, creepy fanboy Victor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 09:30:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9173782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evil_brainmate/pseuds/evil_brainmate
Summary: "He loves three things in this world more than himself: Skating. His poodle, Makkachin. And Yuuri Katsuki—even if they've never actually met."In which Victor is an obsessed fanboy long before he becomes Yuuri's coach.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Victor is a classic unreliable narrator in this. This is totally meant to be an unhealthy, creepy, possessive kind of relationship. Do not take it as romantic, or me condoning this behavior. If someone behaves this way, run far away and fast. Also, this was 90% written on my flight to Japan last week.

Victor knows people like to talk a lot of shit. It’s always the same jealous words from those who want to be rich, famous, talented and beautiful. Never mind that he works himself to exhaustion and physical injury to maintain those enviable traits. They’ll say he’s selfish, rude, flighty; a notorious playboy incapable of caring about anyone or anything but himself and his career.

Bullshit.

He loves three things in this world more than himself:

Skating.

His poodle, Makkachin.

And Yuuri Katsuki—even if they’ve never actually met.

* * *

The first time he sees Yuuri, it’s a revelation. A religious experience worthy of depiction by the likes of Caravaggio or Bernini. Even glimpsed only through the angled laptop screen over Yakov’s shoulder, he knows that this is it. He’s finally found ‘the one’. His soulmate, if there was such a thing. The skater’s jumps may not be technically perfect, but his footwork is sublime. His performance gushing with emotion as he entreats the audience to feel what he feels. To live this story with him through the choreography. Victor delights in the man’s beautiful spins, and how someone can be so flexible, but controlled. It doesn’t hurt that the skater is absolutely gorgeous to boot.

But most of all, he manages something no other skaters have. Even with an imperfect program hardly worthy of such an ephemeral creature, he manages to make Victor  _feel_.

And that simply doesn’t happen unless Victor is on the ice himself. Much less when he’s lurking over his coach’s shoulder in rink’s small break room, sipping at a half empty cup of coffee.

“Who is that?” Victor asks when the program ends, and he finally works up the ability to speak again.

“Yuuri Katsuki,” Yakov grunts and sure enough, Yuuri’s name pops up on screen as the skater awaits his scores.

“He’s good.”  _Perfect. Divine. Angelic._  Victor frowns at the score they give Yuuri. It’s not terrible, but Victor knows he deserved better. The judges must have hearts of stone.

“He is one of the top skaters in Japan. No matter,” Yakov says and gives a dismissive wave. “His nerves usually affect his performance. You will beat him just like you will beat everyone else.”

Victor hums a noncommittal sound against his mug. If Yuuri can stop Victor’s heart even in an anxiety ridden performance, he wonders what Yuuri looks like when he’s comfortable and safe. What an experience it would be to behold the divinity of Yuuri Katsuki performing for a private audience.

* * *

Victor doesn’t bring up Yuuri again. It wouldn’t do to seem too interested. People might assume Victor is worried about competition, or unconfident in himself. They might think Victor has found a rival, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. His sudden fascination with Yuuri is a closely guarded secret in public.

In private, he spends every spare minute learning more about Yuuri, and whenever he runs out of new material, he curates a collection of personal favorites. With every old performance video and interesting fact, Victor finds himself a little more infatuated than before. Yuuri is positively wonderful in every way. The ‘skater with the biggest glass heart’ they call him. Fragile.

Victor isn’t so convinced. Yuuri might lack confidence, yes, but his heart would never be something so bland as plain glass.

It’s crystal.

And it’s going to sing so beautifully when Victor touches it.

* * *

_Friend Request Sent_

Victor huffs out a sigh at the annoying little button at the top of Yuuri’s Facebook page. It’s been a week since he sent that friend request. Surely, Yuuri would have gotten the notification by now. He doesn’t  _think_  Yuuri dislikes him. They’ve never even met, and Yuuri doesn’t seem the type to hold a professional grudge.

Most people would be over the moon to get a friend request from Victor, so why hasn’t Yuuri accepted?

“Everyone wants to be my friend though,” Victor whines. After all, Yuuri’s rink mate Phichit had immediately accepted his request. He’d even posted a screenshot and a series of emojis when Victor started following the Thai skater’s instagram.

“Makkachin, you like me, don’t you? I’m totally friend material.”

The poodle in question cuddles a little closer and licks at Victor’s jaw in reply.

“Maybe he just doesn’t friend people he hasn’t met personally,” Victor continues with a sigh. He doesn’t understand the philosophy, but he knows it’s pretty common.

Victor thumbs through Phichit’s instagram feed again, liking a selfie taken with Yuuri at their home rink in Detroit. He likes a few of Phichit’s adorable hamster photos as well for good measure. After all, being supportive of Yuuri’s friends is, by extension, being supportive of Yuuri.

And Victor is going to be Yuuri’s most supportive fan in the world.

* * *

Victor is delighted when Yuuri makes the Grand Prix circuit, though it’s a shame he and Yuuri aren’t competing in the same events. Yakov refuses to let Victor take time off from his training to go see the performances in person as well. In the end, Victor consoles himself with live streams and twitter.

When the finalists are announced Victor is ecstatic. Finally, he’ll be able to meet this man, and have a front row seat to his most dazzling performance.

Of course, nothing goes according to plan. Yuuri is skittish and distracted and refuses to interact with anyone but his coach, and even that is minimal and obviously strained. Victor knows his darling Yuuri is polite to a fault so something must be wrong. It becomes all the more obvious when Yuuri has a very public meltdown on the ice, flubbing each of his jumps and coming in dead last.

Victor wants nothing more than to tell Yuuri it’s alright. That he’ll do better next time. That Victor still thinks he’s the most beautiful thing on ice. But he’s whisked away to victory ceremonies and press conferences. He kisses his medal and smiles for the cameras, but his thoughts constantly stray to the man who should be next to him.

When he finally spots Yuuri after the competition, he doesn’t quite know what to do. He’s imagined this meeting going entirely differently with a confident, smiling Yuuri who had at least made it to the podium. Then it would seem a lot less patronizing to tell Yuuri what a huge fan he was. Victor aims for something casual, asking if Yuuri wants a photo. With any luck, he’ll be able to ask Yuuri to send it to him and get his number. Instead, Victor’s heart plummets as the light in Yuuri’s eyes dims and he turns his back on Victor.

_Maybe he really doesn’t like me..._

The thought is suffocating, squeezing his heart and sticking in his throat, and Victor spends hours before the exhibition rolling around in his own misery in his hotel room. He only bothers to attend the banquet because Yakov drags him.

Victor spots Yuuri in the crowd, the younger skater’s coach urging him to at least attempt to socialize. Victor steels his nerves, determined to try to speak to Yuuri once again, if only to apologize if he’d inadvertently offended him. Every time Victor gets close to Yuuri though, someone comes along to distract Victor and drag him into dull conversation about his future plans, or sponsorships, or retirement. At this point, Victor couldn’t care less, but he’s played the game too long to destroy his career by being rude.

Yuuri has no such compunctions about appearances when Victor eventually spots Yuuri, several glasses of champagne later. Somehow, Yuuri had gotten the idea that he needed to challenge Yuri and anyone else who would join to a dance-off.

Victor no longer needs to make excuses to get away from people and pursue Yuuri, not when Yuuri is the star of the evening. Victor snaps dozens of photos and videos, until Yuuri notices and demands Victor join him.

How can he say no? Especially when Yuuri turns out to be such an amazing dancer and shows Victor the time of his life. It’s like they’re of one mind as they find their rhythm together, seamlessly changing styles and finding their footing. And Victor’s heart feels like it will burst from the pure unbridled joy when Yuuri dips him, and he sees that same joy reflected on Yuuri’s face. He can’t even feel jealous later when Yuuri pole dances with Chris, knowing that it’s all for him.

“If I win this dance off, you’ll come to Hasetsu and be my coach.”

And honestly, no one has the right to be so charming when they’re drunkenly dry-humping your leg.

The only downside to the evening is when Celestino finally returns to collect his wayward pupil before Victor can sneak off with him. Even that isn’t enough to put a damper on Victor’s mood.

He lays awake that night, staring up at the ceiling starry eyed and heart pounding.

_Yuuri wants me to be his coach._

_Yuuri invited me to live with him._

_Yuuri wants me to meet his family._

_Yuuri Katsuki loves me._

* * *

_Or not it would seem._

Aside from a plethora of videos and photos on Victor’s phone, and constant teasing from Christophe, nothing has changed. Yuuri hasn’t called, texted, emailed, or even answered that stupid friend request. He never thought his Yuuri would be such a fickle creature to toy with his heart like this. Unless perhaps Yuuri was focusing on his current season, and expected Victor to do the same? Victor still had European Championships and World’s after all, and Yuuri had specified that Victor become his coach after the season was over.

Victor considers messaging Phichit to ask what Yuuri is up to, but that seems too awkward. Not to mention a little desperate, and Victor doesn’t  _do_  desperate. Still, he longs to see Yuuri again, and he’s already memorized every detail of his own personal collection. With a sigh, he resigns himself to scrolling through Phichit’s feed for the hundredth time. There’s a new one at the top of Phichit and Yuuri out in the snowy city of Detroit, which Victor immediately likes. Then, he resumes his perusal of Yuuri photos, careful not to accidentally like any of his old pictures, lest he seem like a creep.

A minute later another photo of the two is added, and Victor doesn’t think twice about liking that as well.

Eventually, he’s going to have to stop moping and get out of bed. He needs to shower and maybe post something to keep up his own social media presence after all. Instead, he switches to his feed and likes a few photos from various skaters. Phichit adds two more photos of his lunch or dinner at a noodle shop which Victor passes over.

A few minutes later, Phichit posts another photo. Just Yuuri this time, laughing at something and looking so terribly beautiful that Victor’s heart stops for a moment. Below it is the caption “by popular demand ;)”. Victor likes that photo as well and closes the app before he can do something embarrassing like leave a comment about how Yuuri’s smile brightens his whole day, or how he wants to see Yuuri smiling always.

* * *

Nationals and various championships are hell on Victor’s body. It doesn’t escape him that he’s much older than most of his peers. Each quad is a painful reminder of old injuries, and his knees quake with the promise of surgery in the future. He never lets the audience see it though. He keeps his focus on his performance, and pastes on that brilliant smile that the audience loves, and he wins. He wins and wins to stave off the inevitable speculation that his career is ending. After all, earning another handful of gold medals is easier than answering questions about his future.

What are you supposed to say when you’ve planned an entire future with a person that you’ve only truly known for one night, and haven’t spoken to since?

The only reason Victor even knows that Yuuri went back to Japan is because Phichit mentioned his best friend leaving on Facebook. In preparation for his move at the end of the season, Victor has already packed his and Makkachin’s bags and cleaned up most of his apartment. He’s arranged for movers to come pack up the rest soon.

All that’s left to do now is wait.

_Friend Request Sent_

The words still taunt him as he compulsively checks his apps.

Was Yuuri afraid to talk to him? Did he think Victor cared about his season’s downward spiral after the Grand Prix? He knows Yuuri bombed at Nationals. He’d watched the stream and winced at every failed jump. He’d cuddled Makkachin close, sniffling against the dog’s fur when he saw how defeated Yuuri looked at his standings. It made the most sense that Yuuri might be too embarrassed to ask for Victor’s help now. Alcohol induced dance offs aside, Victor has learned enough about Yuuri to know his lack of confidence was his Achille’s Heel. Still, Victor would appreciate some kind of sign that he was making the right decision.

A notification draws Victor out of his musings, followed by another, and another. Soon every single app he has starts blowing up with the same link.

Curious and grateful for the distraction from his melancholy, Victor clicks one of them.

_Yuuri Katsuki attempts to skate Victor Nikiforov’s “Stay Close to Me”_.

Victor clicks the video and smiles as he watches Yuuri skate his program. Yuuri’s gained some weight, something Victor will have to correct for Yuuri to be at his best. Still, the performance is beautiful and Victor finds himself drawn in like a moth to a flame. It doesn’t matter that he knows this program inside and out, or that Yuuri might not be as technically perfect as Victor himself. Yuuri skating his program with such beauty and emotion and  _longing_  stirs something inside Victor in a way that even skating that routine at World’s never did.

Victor watches the video a few more times and lets himself become lost in the swell of emotion that he simply defines as “Yuuri”. It’s practically a visual love letter. Such a bold statement after months of radio silence, there’s no way he could ignore it.

He’d asked for a sign, hadn’t he?

Eventually he pauses the video and barely restrains himself from kissing the screen like a schoolgirl with a crush.

It’s only a matter of days until he has the real thing within reach.

* * *

Perhaps being naked for his second proper meeting with Yuuri wasn’t the best approach. Although he’s roughly 60% certain that Yuuri appreciates the view, if not the fact that Victor attempted to level the playing field, as it were.

At least he hasn’t tried to hump Yuuri’s leg yet.

Yuuri’s family are wonderful and inviting, and Victor is convinced Hiroko is some kind of domestic goddess. Within a matter of hours, she’s already dubbed him with an adorable nickname, and given him enough food and drink to settle into a jet lag induced power nap. If he happens to do it where Yuuri will see him looking so inviting in a loose robe, so be it.

* * *

“With that pig’s body of yours, training you right now would be pointless.”

The words are poison on Victor’s lips, and when Yuuri flinches and reflexively tugs at his shirt, Victor’s heart squeezes in sympathy. He never wants to cause his love pain of any sort. It’s necessary though if Yuuri is going to compete against some of the best athletes in the world. Yuuri might still be reeling from his subpar season, but Victor’s here now. He’s going to make Yuuri better. He’s going to push him farther than anyone can imagine. Yuuri is going to evolve into something Victor will never want to look away from, and he wants the whole world to see it.

Even if it hurts them both.

It feels like ages before he finally gets Yuuri alone. Not that Victor dislikes Yuuri’s family or Minako, but Victor doesn’t want to see the person Yuuri is around them. Well, he does. He wants to see every facet of Yuuri. He just doesn’t want to see that particular one now. Not when they have so much to catch up on. When there’s so much for Victor to discover, and everything he’s ever wanted is right at his fingertips.

Yuuri’s skin is soft and smooth and warm against Victor’s fingers as he crowds into Yuuri’s space. He can feel Yuuri’s pulse fluttering, eyes wide in surprise, face flushed with a mix of embarrassment and want.

“I want to know everything about you.”

_Teach me how to be everything you need._

* * *

There’s something enticing about the thought of being Yuuri’s first lover. Granted, they aren’t quite there yet, but Yuuri has at least admitted to never having dated anyone seriously.

Which means that Victor is the first person Yuuri has ever pursued.

“So why did you make that video?” Victor asks one day during their training to get Yuuri back into shape. It’s not the first time he’s raised the question, but he still holds hope that he’ll get an answer.

Yuuri finally takes a break from his leg strengthening and plops down on the bench next to Victor.

“I didn’t,” Yuuri replies with a shrug.

Not the answer he was expecting.

“So it just materialized into existence?”

“I didn’t know anyone was filming.”

That causes Victor some pause. He’d been under the impression that Yuuri had intentionally posted the video for Victor’s attention. Perhaps he’d only done so after he saw the finished piece.

“Really?”

“I was just messing around at Ice Castle, and I thought I’d show Yuuko what I’d been practicing,” Yuuri explains. “Her kids posted the video without permission.”

_It was for Yuuko._  Victor doesn’t even know how to define the feelings coursing through him. There’s pain, anger, a smattering of betrayal and humiliation to go along with it. He pastes on his most charming, publicity-friendly smile out of habit. He can always hide behind that smile.

“Oh. So, you skated the program for her?” Victor asks, his voice trembling as his heart stutters. Maybe it will stop. Certainly that would be better than breaking.

“What?”

“I didn’t realize—with her being married and...” Victor trails off, his tone masking his own pain by teasing at the scandal of it all.  _The greatest performance of my work, and I’m just the choreographer not the inspiration._

“No! No no no. It’s nothing like that. I—” Yuuri stumbles as he tries to find the words to placate Victor.

“And here I was hoping it might have been for me. You’re so cruel, Yuuri.”

“Yuuko is my oldest friend. That’s all. She introduced me to y—to skating. We would learn by copying your routines!” Yuuri insists. A moment later his expression and voice softens a little in what Victor can only surmise as shame. “I just wanted to forget about the season and remember why I loved skating. I didn’t know anyone was filming, or that you would show up because of it.”

Victor feels a little guilty at trudging up painful memories for the sake of his own satisfaction, but there’s no taking it back now, so he forges forward. “Did it work?”

“Huh?”

“Copying me. Did it give you that love back?”

And god did he desperately hope that it did. To be the one who gave Yuuri the inspiration that Yuuri had given him… That’s all that Victor could ever ask for and more.

“Maybe? I don’t know,” Yuuri admits. “All I know is after you showed up, nothing has been the same. I just knew I wasn’t ready to give up yet.”

* * *

Victor can’t blame Yurio for hunting him down. He did promise, after all. He just hadn’t really thought about it in a while. Victor’s always been a man of singular focus, and that focus lately has been Yuuri.

And Yuuri is floundering. He’s dropped weight, but he’s still far too timid for Victor’s liking. There’s no sign of the man whose skating made Victor fly halfway across the world. The man who made it to the Grand Prix Final, even if he lost.

So while Yurio’s arrival is an unwelcome surprise, it’s useful none the less.

Victor agrees to the Onsen on Ice event for the sake of igniting Yuuri’s competitive spirit. There’s no way he could resist.

He just has to ensure that Yuuri can’t lose.

Agape is completely unsuited to Yurio as he is now, but given time and self discovery, Victor is certain it will be a masterful performance. Victor’s pride as a skater and choreographer demands nothing less. He just knows Yurio won’t fully grasp the program in time for his face off with Yuuri.

Now, if only Yuuri would figure out how to portray Eros, they’d be in business. It’s a beautiful program, lovingly crafted and tailored to Yuuri’s exquisite step sequences and unparalleled stamina. All that’s missing is that personal touch. That spark Yuuri manages to kindle to flame. If Yuuri could only find the passion in this piece, Victor’s certain that flame would be an inferno.

Victor’s tried everything he can think of to inspire Eros, short of tying himself naked to Yuuri’s bed. He’s not sure that would even work given Yuuri responds to nudity with blushes and avoidance when he’s not too tired to react at all. Well, that and Yuuri’s bed has nowhere to fasten the bindings. He’s checked. Though it was very satisfying to find a collection of posters of himself hidden under the bed. It’s enough to give Victor some hope that his feelings are returned. Or they will be, eventually.

Regardless, all he’s gotten from Yuuri so far in the pursuit of Eros is sexual frustration, a sweet memory of the feeling of Yuuri’s plush bottom lip against his thumb (and how delightful it would be to have those lips somewhere else), and the knowledge that he’s less sexually appealing than food.

Victor drinks until dawn after that last little tidbit, cursing Yuuri all the while.

It takes time for Victor to learn the code Yuuri speaks. If Yuuri wants to equate sex to food, he wouldn’t be the first person to do so; though, most people lean more towards desserts. Regardless, when Yuuri tells Victor to watch him become a delicious Katsudon, Victor replies in kind assuring Yuuri that he loves Katsudon.

It’s the first step at least.

And Victor knows it pays off when Yuuri directs that coy smirk his way as the performance begins. While by no means technically perfect, Yuuri’s skate is enthralling. He’s positively sublime on the ice, seducing the entire audience, and Victor can’t help the rush of excitement and arousal that floods his veins as Yuuri dances for him again. He barely even notices when Yurio leaves, thoroughly beaten.

Later, when they stand on the podium, Victor thinks he could happily live the rest of his life like this. Enveloped in Yuuri’s scent, with that warm toned body so close to his own, showing off this beautiful, talented creature he’s managed to ensnare.

Even a hundred more podium finishes with Yuuri would never be enough, but a lifetime together... that might just come close.

* * *

Training is daunting, especially with Yuuri’s undecided Free Skate hanging over the two of them. Still, Victor is surprised that Yuuri works up the nerve to yell at him, and push back, throwing Victor’s attempts at advice in his face. Victor is less surprised when Yuuri avoids him for days after. Hurt, but not surprised.

Yuuri doesn’t seem to handle confrontation well, and Victor has been pushing him ruthlessly to claw his way up to the top. It’s the only way he knows how to motivate Yuuri to want to win even half as much as Victor wants him to. It’s just the way Victor works. He pushes and prods and touches trying to get Yuuri to  _let him in_.

Finally, he drags Yuuri to the beach, hoping that a change in environment will ease things for them both. He talks about St. Petersburg; about what it’s like to be so far from home. And finally, finally, Yuuri opens up to him, laying his insecurities bare to Victor’s scrutiny. It’s not like Victor didn’t know Yuuri was insecure, but he didn’t know how deeply it ran. If he’s honest, he’s still not sure how to deal with it either. He offers to be anything Yuuri wants, father, brother, friend, lover. When Yuuri says he just wants him,  _Victor_ , that’s music to his ears.

He still pushes, as he told Yuuri he would. He needles him about his performance music, but Yuuri takes it in stride and asks for Victor’s tutelage in jumps in return. Pain and exhaustion wrack Victor’s frame with every landing, but Yuuri will always ask ‘one more time’. If Yuuri says jump, Victor is in the air before he can even say how high.

He’ll give Yuuri anything and everything.

He only asks the same in return.

* * *

The delight of hearing the completed music for Yuuri’s free program is only rivaled by the amazing distraction of Yuuri spread over Victor’s lap. Still, Victor’s sleep muddled brain picks up on Yuuri’s expectant look, and he listens for a while, bits of choreography already taking shape. Eventually, he gives Yuuri an excited nod, and Yuuri’s relief and joy are palpable.

Once the song has finished, Victor removes the earbuds and carefully sets the laptop aside. Yuuri still hasn’t abandoned his perch across Victor’s legs, and only seems to realize the awkwardness of their position when Victor trails his fingers up Yuuri’s thighs until they’re inches from his hips.

“You know,” Victor drawls with faux nonchalance, “you shouldn’t tease me like this. I might take it the wrong way.”

Yuuri blushes furiously, but doesn’t say anything.

“Oh? Or maybe, the right way,” Victor chuckles and sets his hands a little more firmly at Yuuri’s sides.

“I--I should go to bed,” Yuuri sputters, still frozen in place, too shocked to move.

“Well that’s convenient. There’s a bed right here.”

“I’m not... I don’t...”

Victor breathes out an amused sigh. “Just sleep here, Yuuri.”

Yuuri shakes his head silently, and climbs off Victor. Victor latches a hand around Yuuri’s wrist to keep him from escaping.

“Can I at least get a goodnight kiss?” Victor whines. He knows it’s pathetic, being reduced to begging like this, but he deserves some sort of consolation if Yuuri won’t stay.

“Goodnight, Victor,” Yuuri huffs, his cheeks flushing brighter in embarrassment as he graces Victor with a peck on the cheek. Without another word, he retrieves his computer and bolts from Victor’s room.

Victor smiles and brushes his fingers over his cheek. It’s not quite what he was angling for, but it’s marvelous none the less.

He flops back against the pillows and closes his eyes, chasing the memories of Yuuri’s weight in his lap, the smell of his skin. He lets a hand drift down his body, grazing over his chest and toying with his nipples, before finally slipping down to wrap a hand around his cock. And he’s already so hard it’s almost painful. He has been since the moment his body registered it was Yuuri in his bed. He wonders briefly if Yuuri had noticed. He can’t recall if Yuuri was close enough to feel the firm weight of his cock pressed between them. He’d been too focused on the feeling of Yuuri’s thighs under his palms.

God, he hopes Yuuri had felt it—what he did to Victor.

He might be a little more vocal than usual with those thoughts fresh in his mind when he starts fucking himself. The walls are thin, and his room is right next to Yuuri’s, but it’s not like Yuuri won’t enjoy the sounds. They’re for him after all.

* * *

Victor anticipates having to protect his claim on Yuuri once the season starts and people realize how amazing Yuuri is. Over time, Yuuri has come to accept Victor’s casual affection in private, or even the semi-public of Hasetsu. It’s only when they finally reach Yuuri’s first competition that Victor finally drags their budding relationship into the public eye.

Minami seems like a sweet enough boy. One who idolizes Yuuri and has a massive crush. And while Victor can’t allow Yuuri to be rude to a fan and fellow competitor (lest it reflect poorly on them both) that doesn’t mean Victor can’t disabuse the child of some notions.

He hugs Yuuri from behind for all the cameras and competitors to see, demanding a proper seduction. And when Yuuri doesn’t balk too much at that, Victor takes it a step further the next day. The feeling of those lips against his fingers again as he applies Yuuri’s lip balm alights a fire in Victor. And there’s no way Yuuri can’t feel his reaction when Victor pulls him into a hug before sending him out on the ice. Minami’s red faced screeching is a rather pleasing side effect.

Yuuri rewards his persistence with a love confession on live television.

Despite his confession, Yuuri doesn’t give Victor a proper kiss aside from the occasional press of lips to his cheek or forehead. Victor remains undeterred though, and he finds Yuuri’s hesitation simply a coy invitation. With each of Victor’s touches, Yuuri becomes a little less reticent and begins to return them in kind, which only spurs Victor to grow bolder. If the uptick in Yuuri’s need for private time is anything to go by, Victor’s certain he’s not alone in this game of building tension. Constantly teasing the other to see who will break first.

No matter, Victor treasures each and every one of these touches and hoards moments of Yuuri’s attention like a jealous, thieving dragon. At the ice rink, in the hot springs, anywhere around town, it doesn’t matter. Victor follows Yuuri like a lost puppy, always finding something to ask about, or show Yuuri, to occupy them both.

* * *

The Cup of China is an emotional roller coaster for them both. Yuuri is a mess of nerves and frustration, while Victor is a ball of lust, love, jealousy, and irritation. He enjoys his time spent with Yuuri and Phichit, but grows restless the more people arrive, and the more he drinks. Perhaps Victor’s grown too used to monopolizing Yuuri’s time and attention, but he can’t honestly say he wants that to change. At some point in the evening, (according to Instagram) he started losing his clothes and hanging all over Yuuri, which he fuzzily remembers. Still, Victor likes the photo out of habit while Yuuri seems a bit miffed that the photo is up at all, as though he’s embarrassed by the attention.

And Victor just feels adrift.

He doesn’t understand the signals Yuuri sends when he runs off to exercise alone one minute, then demands Victor’s undivided attention the next. Yuuri skates a phenomenal short program to land him in first, so seductive and entrancing that Victor’s knees go weak as he watches. Then, Yuuri turns around and refuses to even talk to him, denying Victor’s request to sleep together, and locking him out of his room with the excuse of calling family.

And sometime between that night and the next day, Yuuri is the one who seems lost.

Victor’s heart aches seeing Yuuri falling prey to anxiety, but it’s not something he personally knows how to fix. He gives Yuuri space, and a task, and it’s all worthless. All of his work means nothing because Yuuri is crumbling before his very eyes. So he pushes. Like he’s pushed all along. Breaking down Yuuri’s faults to rebuild them into something greater. So Victor uses himself as motivation.

And Yuuri shatters.

And Victor wants to shatter with him because he doesn’t know how they built something this fragile. He’s tried to be perfect for Yuuri, and it just keeps blowing up in his face!

“Should I just kiss you or something?” Maybe that would do it. Settle this undefined thing between them. Give them something to move forward.

“No! You don’t have to do anything! Just stand by me!”

And Victor wants to scream. What does Yuuri think he’s been doing this whole time? How could he be so clueless to think that Victor would leave him when he needs Yuuri like he needs air?

But maybe Yuuri needs him too.

Victor thought he spoke the language of Yuuri. Yuuri is all subtleties and double meanings, but the quad flip blows everything away. It’s open, and honest and completely unmistakable in its intent.

So Victor kisses him. In front of the whole world.

And later, when Yuuri is finally buried deep inside Victor, the two of them moving in that perfect rhythm they’d unknowingly found the night they met, Victor knows this is it. He’s going to keep Yuuri forever. He’ll fight and hurt and cry and anything it takes to stay with his beloved.

Even when that means abandoning Yuuri’s free skate because Yuuri wants him to see Makkachin, and for the first time in his life Victor feels the smallest grain of resentment towards his dog.

Even if Yuuri didn’t remember how they first met, because despite that, somewhere along the way Yuuri realized Victor’s devotion was worthy of that ring.

Even if he needs to destroy his own body with just one more season, but in exchange gets Yuuri almost entirely to himself in Russia.

And finally the anxiety that’s been clawing at this undefined thing he and Yuuri share settles in Victor’s chest.

It’s love.

Or something like it.

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on tumblr [@iceprincenikiforov](iceprincenikiforov.tumblr.com).


End file.
